Rolling mill entry guide



Oct. 16, 1962 H. N. FRY

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ROLLING MILL ENTRY GUIDE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 29, 1959 23mm mmmm mm INVENTOR OWARD N. FRY I BY IS ATTORNEY nie tat tr 3,953,376 RGLLENG MELL ENTRY GUiDE Howard N. Fry, -ittsburgh, Pa, assignor to United Engineering and Foundry ernpany, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Jan. 29, 1959, Ser. No. 789,956 1 Chaim. {61. 86-51) This invention relates to an improvement in entry guides employed for directing endless strip into a rolling mill or the like for processing in a continuous fashion.

While strip entry guides, as employed in conjunction with strip rolling mills of the immediate past, have generally proved satisfactory, they have in many respects fallen short of satisfactory performance when employed to handle strip in the ultra-modern high speed tandem mill. The constructional and operational limitations of entry guides employed heretofore, to which particular reference is made, are related to inadequate and inefficient provisions for adjusting the guiding boards thereof transversely and also to the limitation that such guides have no provisions for preventing the leading end of a broken strip from passing into the rolls of the mill when the mill is operating at rolling speeds.

With respect to the adjustment of the boards, strip entry guides normally comprise a plurality of replaceable wooden guiding boards which are brought into guiding relationship with the upper and lower longitudinal surfaces of the strip. The entry guides also are provided with strip edge guiding members which may take the form of replaceable elements or members adjustable transversely, but constructed as an intricate part of the guide. In this arrangement, it is necessary whenever strips of different widths are to be rolled to remove and replace the boards in order that the edge guiding members may be brought into their proper strip edge guiding relationships. In many instances, the only appreciable time consuming operation that must be made in order that the mill may be set up to roll a different width strip is that of adjusting the boards of the entry guides. Since there may be as many as five mill stands arranged in tandem, each having an entry guide, and since the boards are usually bolted rigidly to the frame of the guide, considerable time and energy is expended in order that the mill may be made ready to roll a diffedent width of strip. Since the rolling procedures and characteristics may vary for various types of mills, some mills necessarily involve more guide changes than others. A jobbing type mill, for example, is a mill that requires a large number of guide changes during its normal operation. Conservatively, the number of times that the entry guides in this type of mill will be adjusted would average about fifty times for an eight hour period, while in some instances, it has been found that the number of guide changes or adjustments may exceed one hundred twenty. By incorporating in the mills guides as disclosed herein, boards may be adjusted on the fly thereby permitting an increase in production which may be in excess of of the strip that may be rolled in an eight hour period, which represents the increase in production time realized by not being required to interrupt the operation of the mill in order to adjust the guides.

The second limitation of the guides as now employed, and which limitation is avoided 'by the present invention, relates to the prevention of cobbled or broken strip from entering the rolls of the mill. Not too infrequently does it occur after the strip is introduced between the rolls, the rolls accelerated to rolling speed and the entry guides retracted away from the strip to prevent excess wear of the boards, that the strip breaks so that the leading end of the broken strip will pass between the rapidly accelerating rolls, striking the rolls with a sudden impact thereby causing damage. In a tandem mill arrangement, a broken strip may pass through several of the mill stands before the rolls can be decelerated, resulting in damage to at least two or more pairs of rolls. Moreover, the broken strip end has, on occasion, encircled the work rolls and as a result the large expensive back-up rolls are damaged or broken. Now, in addition to the considerable expense incident to furnishing new rolls or remachining the damaged ones if such is still possible, the entire mill must be shut down so that the damaged rolls may be removed and replaced, a time consuming and expensive operation to perform.

By incorporating the features of the invention herein defined and disclosed, the leading end of broken strip is prevented from inadvertently passing into the rolls whereby the rolls are protected from being damaged.

More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a strip entry guide having completely automatic means for displacing the guiding surfaces of the guide into a position to define a restricted passage for the strip in which position the guide will not interfere with the continuous feeding of strip that is being rolled to the mill, but, in the event the strip being rolled breaks, will prevent the leading end of a broken strip from passing therethrough and into the rolls of the mill.

Another object of this invention is to provide means for bringing the top guiding surface of the guide into a strip feeding relation with the bottom guiding surface, and means operable upon rendering the first mentioned means inoperable for disposing of at least one of the guiding surfaces into a restricted passage relationship, in which position the strip being fed will continue to pass into the mill, but on the occasion of its breakage, the broken leading end thereof will be prevented from passing into the mill.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide an entry guide having a plurality of fully transversely movable guiding boards and means for adjusting the boards without necessitating the removal and/ or replacement of any parts, thereby obviating the need for manually detaching, removing, manipulating and replacing any board or boards when changing from full width strip to succeeding narrower widths.

It is another object of this invention to provide a strip entry guide having strip edge guiding members adapted to engage the transversely freely movable guide boards of the guide and to position them transversely to accommodate various widths of the strip to be rolled.

These objects together with the various other novel features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 constitutes a side elevational view of an entry guide incorporating the features of the invention disclosed herein, one half being a partial outside view and the other half being a partial sectional view taken on line I-I of FIG. 2;

FIG. 2 is a side sectional elevational view taken at line II--II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but showing the guide in its partially open restricted strip passage position;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view in which the unique arrangements of the guiding boards are shown for guiding strip ranging from maximum to minimum Widths;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the auxiliary means operable to move the upper guide member to its partially open or restricted strip passage position, and

'FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the clamps provided for the uide boards.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is illustrated therein a strip entry guide incorporating the features of the invention disclosed herein adapted to facilitate the feeding and guiding of a continuous traveling strip into a rolling mill, shown diagrammatically in FIGS. 2 and 3, having a pair of work rolls identified as W.R. and a pair of relatively large back-up rolls identified as B.R., each of the rolls being rotatably supported in suitable chocks in a housing H. The entry guide is transversely arranged on the entry side of the mill between the vertical posts of the housing H for receiving, supporting and guiding continuous traveling strip into the work rolls of the mill.

In the preferred form, the guide comprises a horizontally arranged stationary supporting shaft 11, made of sufficient length to extend between the housing posts to which it is secured by means of retainers 12 afiixed to the housing H. On the shaft 11 there are positioned two spaced apart rectangular shaped blocks 13 having bearing lined apertures for permitting angular movement of the blocks relative to the shaft. The upper horizontal surfaces of the blocks 13 are provided with recesses for receiving the lower ends of vertically extending screws of a pair of jacks 1'4 securely mounted upon upright extensions 15 by an inverted U shaped frame 16, FIG. 1, connected to the extensions 15 by pins 17. The jacks are interconnected by a shaft Ztl assured to simultaneous operation thereof, and this shaft has a ratchet 21 for effecting the operation of the jacks on angular movement of a handle 19 connected to the shaft and in engagement with the ratchet. The extensions 15 have vertical sides 18 arranged to engage the opposite vertical sides of the blocks 13, as best shown in FIG. 2. The ends of the extensions 15 protrude beyond the vertical sides of the blocks and form vertical guides so that on rotation of the ratchet wrench 19 to operate the jacks 14, the blocks 13 will slide vertically therein.

The extensions 15 are integral with the main frame of the guide, which consists of an upper horizontal cross member 22 to which the extensions 15 are secured, a pair of parallel identical vertical side members 23 and a lower horizontal cross member 24 which serves to tie the side members 23 together as does the upper cross member 22. Extending downward from the upper cross member 22 of the frame, there are two shaft supporting members 25 having bearing lined apertures into which a horizontally disposed shaft 26 is rotatably supported. At the ends of the shaft 26, one end of each of a pair of bell cranks 27 is rigidly secured, the other ends of the bell cranks being connected to the rods of a pair of piston cylinder assemblies 28 pivotally secured to an H- beam 30 to the housing H. In addition, the bell cranks are connected to one end of an upper guide holder 29 which, by links 32, is secured to brackets 33 projecting from the front of the frame.

The lower surface of the guide holder 29 is flat, extends between the vertical side members 23 of the frame, and has a dove tail joint 34 across its entire front side into which there are received complementary formed end portions of a plurality of strip guide boards 35. As best illustrated in FIG. 6, the boards 35 are loosely secured at the ends, opposite the formed portions to a ledge 36 of the upper holder 29 by projecting ends of individual clamps 37. These clamps are secured to the ends of each board in such a manner as to permit the boards, when the clamps are in supporting relation with the ledge 36, to move freely in a transverse direction along the lower surface of the top holder while, at the same time, they are prevented from dropping out of the guide. This construction thus obviates the necessity of removing or loosening bolts or other fastening devices when the boards are to be moved in a direction transverse of the guide. In the clamp arrangement for retaining the board as disclosed herein, the individual boards may be quickly removed by simply turning the clamp until its front end is moved out of engagement with the ledge 36 of the holder.

Directly below the upper holder 29, there is a lower holder consisting of two separate board supporting members 38a and 38b bolted one at the front and the other at the back portions to the frame. This holder also is provided with a plurality of boards 39 secured to the members 38a and 38b by a dove tail joint and clamp arrangement similar to that employed for the arrangement of the upper boards. Each member has opposed guiding recesses 42 into which there are received the projecting ends of strip-edge guiding board adjusting members 43, as best shown in the sectional portion of FIG. 1. The members 43 have upwardly projecting strip-edge guiding surfaces 44 and are provided with transverse openings into which there are confined nuts 45 threadably engaged with transversely disposed shafts 46 having right and left hand threads at their opposite ends. The shafts are rotatably confined at their ends in the frame. As shown in FIG. 1, the edge guiding surfaces 44 of the members 4-3 are made to extend upward beyond the lower surface of the upper boards so that as the members are caused to move transversely they force the boards together. At one end of one of the shafts, a hand wheel 47 is provided and a suitable chain and sprocket arrangement is provided between the shafts for rotating the shafts and moving the members 43 transversely toward and away from each other.

With reference now to the means incorporated in the guide for effecting automatic raising of the upper guide holder 29, and as best shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 5, there are rigidly secured to the shaft 26 a number of levers 48 which have upwardly extending portions having openings therein for receiving the ends of stud bolts 49. Spaced from the ends of the bolts and mounted in the frame there are spring housings 51, one for each lever. Rods 52 pass through the housings 51 and are engaged and urged in the direction of the mill by compression springs 53 confined in the housings 51. The rods 52 extend beyond the rear of the spring housings 51 and are provided with a pair of nuts 54- at their ends which serve as adjustable stops to limit the extent to which the rods 52 may be displaced. When the pres sure for the cylinders 28 is interrupted, the combined energy of the springs is sufficient to rotate the levers 48 in the direction of the mill, thus to rotate the shaft 26 which, through the bell cranks 27 and links 32, raise the upper holder 29 a slight but predetermined distance away from the lower holder, as determined by the position of the stop nuts 54. The springs are compressed when the cylinders 28 are operated to lower the upper holder 29 so that the levers 48 are caused to rotate in a direction to engage the ends of the rods 52.

When the entry guide is in the positions shown in full lines in FIGS. 2 and 3, the front lower extremity of the main frame comes to rest against a stop plate 55 secured to the housing. At the rear lower extremity of the main frame, there is a pivotal latch 56, FIG. 1, which is adapted to be swung downward to engage the front end of a stop plate 57 secured to the housing H, thereby firmly holding the guide in either of the positions shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The latch 56, on its release, permits the guide frame assembly to be pivoted to an out of the way position so that the rolls and the chocks associated therewith may be removed from and replaced in the mill. The roll changing position of the guide is as shown in phantom in FIG. 2, in which position the entire assembly has been rotated about the supporting shaft 11 by operation of the cylinders 28.

To accomplish this maneuver, the upper guide holder 29 is provided with an opening 58 on one of its sides which registers with a similar opening 59 in the frame, the aligned relationship of the openings being best illustrated on the outside view portion of FIG. 1. A pin 61 is slidably mounted in the opening 58 of the upper guide holder 29 and though this pin is normally not permitted to project into the opening 59, when it is desired to remove the guide for roll changing, the pin 61 is then pushed into the opening 59' thus to connect the holder and frame together. Since the lower holder 38 is also permanently connected to the frame, on operation of the cylinders 28 the guide will rotate about the shaft 11 to a position indicated in phantom in FIG. 2. As the guide moves outward an arm 62, loosely secured at one side of the bottom of the frame and having an end projecting angularly outward, will engage with the one side of the stop plate 57. When this takes place, the frame of the guide is tilted to the extent that its lower surface engages with the upper surface of the arm so that the frame is thus prevented from moving any farther. In this position, a slidable latch 63, FIG. 1, mounted on the outer face of the housing is placed in locking engagement with the frame so that the guide will be prevented from moving. The frame is also provided with a second opening 64 arranged on the same side as the opening 59. When the upper holder 29 is raised to its strip feeding position for the purpose of changing the boards, the pin 61 is inserted in the opening 64 thereby maintaining the holder in its raised position without requiring the assistance of the cylinders 28.

With reference to FIG. 4, there is shown therein a sche matic arrangement of the position of the boards for a full rolling range of progressively decreasing widths of strip. It is the universally accepted procedure when operating a mill to prearrange the rolling schedule of different Widths of material so that the widest strip is rolled first and then succeeding narrower widths rolled until the schedule is completed. The principal reason for doing this is that the surfaces of the rolls become marked by the edges of the strip and transfer of such marks to succeeding strips will take place if the succeeding strips of different widths to be rolled are wider rather than narrower than the previous ones already processed in the mill.

In the guide board arrangement of FIG. 4, there is illustrated for purposes of example, arrangements of guide boards for accommodating strips of widths ranging from 54" down to 18". Strip widths of from 54" down to 36" are adapted to be handled merely by adjusting the members 43 inwardly to push the boards together. Widths of from 54 down to 18" can be accommodated in the same fashion except that for strips narrower than 36" three pairs of opposing boards are removed from the guides in order that strip widths down to 18 may be accommodated without necessitating the removal of any other boards. Since a rolling schedule calls for rolling strip in sequence from maximum to minimum widths, the entry guides also are designed and arranged to operate to accommodate different widths of strip in the same fashion. With new rolls in the mill, the guide boards are first set up for maximum width of strip by rotating the hand wheel 47 to bring the members 43 to their maximum spaced apart transverse positions corresponding to the maximum width of strip to be rolled. As shown in FIG. 4, 54" represents the maximum width of strip. On positioning of the members 43, the individual boards 35 and 39 are arranged transversely in a manner so that the maximum separations between any of the boards of each guide will not exceed the width of a board. In this manner, the strip will be adequately supported across its width. Althou h the preferred arrangement is as shown in FIG. 4, it will be appreciated that various other spaced arrangements may be employed.

It will be recalled that the clamps 37 will permit sliding of the boards along the holders 29 and 38 without necessitating the manipulation of any bolts or other fastening devices. Thus, after the boards have been placed into their initial positions, no further adjustment is necessary until the width of strip becomes less than 36". As mentioned heretofore, with the rapid board adjustment thus provided for, members 43 are merely brought closer together by rotation of shafts 46 thereby to cause the outer boards to be pushed transversely in a direction toward the center of the guide.

For a width of strip of 48", for example, it is to be observed that there is a space between the two outer extreme boards whereas for the 42" width of strip, the most outward boards are shown to be in contact with those adjacent thereto. For the 36" width of strip, the members 43 are shown to have been moved inwardly to the extent that all the boards mounted on each holder are in contact and form a continuous strip guiding surface. However, when a 30" width of strip as well as narrower widths are to be directed through the guide, three boards are removed from each holder and the remaining boards centrally arranged, For adjustment of the boards inwardly to accommodate progressively narrower widths of strip, then the members 43 are adjusted inwardly, as explained heretofore, to push the boards closer together until finally the boards will form a continuous supporting surface for the narrowest width to be accommodated which, for the examples as set forth, would be 18'.

The operation of the guide may be briefly summarized as follows: 7

Let it be assumed that the boards 35 and 39 have been adjusted in accordance with a particular width of strip to be rolled and that the cylinders 28 have been operated to raise and maintain the upper guide holder 29 in its feeding position as indicated in outline form in FIG. 2. The strip is then ready to be fed at a low rate of speed through the guide and between the Work rolls W.R. The lower surface of the strip will be supported by the lower boards 39 and the edges thereof confined by the edge guiding portions 44 of the adjustable members 43. After the leading end of the strip has passed between the work rolls and gripped thereby, pressure in the cylinders 28 is reversed thereby to lower the upper guide boards 35 to engage them with the upper surface of the strip, as indicated in full lines in FIG. 2. There will thereby be imposed a drag and guiding influence upon the strip as the leading end of the strip is fed through the mill and up to the point where it is gripped by the reel at the delivery side of the mill.

When the cylinders 28 are operated, the levers 48 will be actuated to compress the springs 53. However, as soon as the rolls of the mill are accelerated to the proper rolling speed, pressure in the cylinders 28 is interrupted and the springs 53 will expand thereby to force the levers 48 to pivot in a counterclockwise direction and cause the upper guide holder 29 to raise a definite and controlled distance, thereby to define the opening for the restricted passage for the strip. The opening between the guides is, as explained heretofore, determined by the setting of the adjustable stop nuts 54. With the guide boards in their restricted strip passage relationship, the strip will be permitted to pass freely therethrough during a normal rolling operation, but, in the event the strip breaks at the entry side of the guide, the end of the strip in front of the guide will be prevented from passing through the guide and hence damage to the rolls will be prevented.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle and operation of my invention and have illustrated and described what I consider to represent the best embodiment thereof. However, I desire to have it understood that within the scope of the appended claim, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

An entry guide for directing endless strip into a rolling mill to be continuously processed thereby comprising a frame;

upper and lower platens having strip engaging surfaces for engaging opposite sides of said strip;

a shaft rotatably secured to said frame; means operatively connecting said upper platen to said shaft;

a lever connected to said shaft adapted to be displaced on rotation thereof;

yieldable pressure means secured to said frame and engageable with said lever;

ment of said lever;

. pressure means operatively connected to and for rotating said shaft thereby to move said upper platen from an inoperative position to a position closely adjacent to said lower platen for engaging the strip therebetween and to engage said lever with and to depress said yieldable pressure means a limited controlled distance during the latter portion of travel of said upper platen towards said lower platen;

said strip engaging surface comprising a plurality of guide boards carried by said platens;

said boards arranged in a spaced apart substantially parallel relationship;

means for connecting said boards to said platens in a manner to permit the boards to be readily moved toward and away from each other in a direction transverse of the direction of travel of the strip;

said means for connecting said boards comprising a lip projecting parallel to said boards from said frame;

a bolt transversely projecting from each of said boards;

a lever mounted on each of said bolts adapted to be pivoted to overlap said projecting lip;

adjustable edge strip guiding means for engaging the outermost boards of each platen whereby on adjustment of said means the outermost boards will be moved automatically and said edge guiding means adjusted for close proximity to the edge of the strip being processed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 941,543 Sistek Nov. 30, 1909' 2,052,976 Harcourt Sept. 1, 1936 2,083,660 Nyberg June 15, 1937 2,092,480 Talbot Sept. 7, 1937 2,165,104 Klein July 4, 1939 2,365,322 Ashworth Dec. 19, 1944 2,890,609 McCafirey June 16, 1959 

